Cameroon: Borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Cameroon's borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) rose 3.74 on 2019 (from 34.23 to 37.97).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2019), the average change was +2.4 and a typical year strayed about 2.43 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 6.86 in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.86 in 2014. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 2.02 a year. A straight line explains 91% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Cameroon in the 2020 ranking

• Singapore — 1st of 5: 1,074
• Burundi — 3rd of 5: 19.59
• Myanmar — 4th of 5: 13.49
• Haiti — 5th of 5: 10.71

What this measures

Borrowers from commercial banks are the reported number of resident customers that are nonfinancial corporations (public and private) and households who obtained loans from commercial banks and other banks functioning as commercial banks.

Limitations: For many countries data cover the total number of loan accounts due to lack of information on loan account holders. For several countries, data cover all borrowers including commercial banks, credit unions and financial cooperatives, deposit taking microfinance institutions, and other deposit takers. These include all resident financial corporations and quasi-corporations (except the central bank) that are mainly engaged in financial intermediation and that issue liabilities included in the national definition of broad money.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 12 values

Borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) in nearby economies

• Botswana — 196.25 (2024)
• Burundi — 19.59 (2020)
• Cabo Verde — 208.75 (2022)
• Chad — 7.96 (2022)
• Comoros — 24.09 (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 9.04 (2018)
• Congo, Rep. — 61.25 (2022)
• Equatorial Guinea — 63.84 (2022)
• Eswatini — 1,057 (2024)
• Ghana

More financial sector data for Cameroon

• GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 129.49 (2025)
• DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$581.93 (2025)
• Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$581.93 (2025)
• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 2.83% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 14.06% (2019)
• Net domestic credit (current LCU) — 4.4 trillion (2019)
• Net foreign assets (current LCU) — 2.35 trillion (2019)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 14.09% (2019)
• Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) — 3.69% (2019)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Cameroon's borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults)?

37.97 in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2009?

It is up 270.71% from 10.24 in 2009 (12.65% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 37.97 in 2020 and the lowest 10.24 in 2009.

Is the latest change in borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) unusual for Cameroon?

In 2020, Cameroon's borrowers from commercial banks (per 1,000 adults) rose 3.74 on 2019 (from 34.23 to 37.97). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2019), the average change was +2.4 and a typical year strayed about 2.43 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Financial Access Survey, International Monetary Fund (IMF), uri: https://data.imf.org/en/datasets/IMF.STA:FAS.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FB.CBK.BRWR.P3, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Financial Access Survey, International Monetary Fund (IMF), uri: https://data.imf.org/en/datasets/IMF.STA:FAS Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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